


Cosmic Princes

by hyperInactive



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Keith and Shiro are Siblings, Lance and Allura are siblings, also there'll be violence and swearing fyi, basically a royalty au but theyre royalty on the sun and moon?, bc im a Sucker for those, broganes, i mean its kind of a love square, shay is there too, someone get pidge on the x files, sorry for the shitty summary, theres a love square too!!, trust me it makes sense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-26
Updated: 2017-09-10
Packaged: 2018-10-24 03:38:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10733361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyperInactive/pseuds/hyperInactive
Summary: Lance was the Sun.  Or, he would be when he came of age.  He loved his Kingdom, but he found he was falling in love with a human on Earth.Keith was a Prince of the Moon, but he was much happier to spend his time on Earth instead.  He was captivated by the prince he remembered meeting as a child.The Sun and Moon Kingdoms have lived in peace for a long time now, but as these princes grow into their respective thrones, all that can easily be undone.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> so...instead of writing my other fics ive posted, i wrote this instead. i love this au so much and i really really hope you guys like it too!

Lance was the sun. Or, he would be, when he came of age. As the second-oldest child, he was one of the heirs to the Sun Kingdom, a land up in the cosmos that gave light to all the planets around it. Therefore, he was incredibly busy learning how to run a Kingdom and keep the light going. It took a lot of energy, known as quintessence, but they simply had to keep the crystal in the heart of the Kingdom intact and the light would never burn out. The current crystal had been powering the Kingdom since before Lance was born, and he hoped he never had to worry about replacing it. 

Time was weird on the sun, it didn't really exist. The Kingdom mainly focused on bringing light to Earth, since it was the only planet with any life that really _needed_ the attention of the sun. That meant that there were really two rulers to run the Sun Kingdom. They were normally family, unless there was an only child, and so Lance was going to share the throne with his older sister Allura. As of right now, the Sun Kingdom was ruled by King Alfor, who was an only child and so he co-ruled with his wife, Queen Fala. They alternated when they took charge, which meant that they had a whole Earth ‘day’ to themselves. Allura and Lance also followed this Earth day schedule, in order to prepare for the throne. This meant Lance was free to do as he pleased during his time off, and as he was a child of the cosmos he didn't have to sleep. Therefore, one of the things he was free to do was take a physical form on Earth, wander around and see the people that he gave light to, that he gave _life_ to. It was nice, and it was how he spent all his free time. He had made some friends, they obviously had no clue who he was, but that was refreshing. They weren't nice to him because they had to be, and they also had time to actually talk to him rather than almost always being busy working to keep the Kingdom rotating. 

As a prince, and heir, he had to know the ins and outs of the Kingdom, but there also wasn't much to know. Making sure things ran smoothly usually didn't take too much time, unless there was an emergency or a time-consuming job, since the only things to check up on were the crystal and the gears. The gears made sure that the sun stayed moving, and every citizen worked on them, alternating every few hours. That meant that Lance could easily sneak off most of the time. Allura knew he did this, and constantly threatened to tell their parents, but he knew she wouldn't. She snuck off sometimes too. See, up on the tallest tower of the castle, there was a telescope. One that could zoom all the way to where Lance could see individual people on Earth. He watched his two friends, found out what they liked to do and just...watched them go about their lives during the day. 

And then there was the boy. He didn't know his name, since he had never been able to find him when Lance was on Earth as the boy was probably asleep. But he had captivated Lance. His dark hair and blue-grey eyes drew in the sun prince, and Lance was scared to realize that he might be in love. It was silly, he had ever spoken to the boy, ever, but he couldn't help it. It wasn't like he could just go down to Earth during the day, either, because the way he and Allura had made their schedules meant that he was always going down to Earth when the same parts were in the daytime and the other half was nighttime. Lance’s friends and the boy lived where it was night. 

Lance loved being on Earth, he loved escaping the kind yet watchful sideways glances from the Sun Kingdom citizens that he got whenever he left the palace. He just wished he could find that boy.

* * *

“Lance!” Allura called, as Lance exited the Bridge. 

“Yeah? What’s up?”

“Nothing, I was just about to take my break. Father says it's your turn to clean the crystal.”

Lance groaned. Allura giggled and pushed Lance out of the doorway. 

“Don't be like that, Coran will help you!” She said as she closed the Bridge doorway behind her. Lance just groaned louder. He heard her laugh through the wall, then the telltale musical sound of the Bridge activating. Lance leaned back against the wall for a minute, adjusting the golden circlet on his head, before sighing and making his way back into the main section of the castle. He did love this Kingdom. Everything was so bright and lovely to look at, and while the citizens did treat him differently because he was royalty, they were always nice. The only downside was that the light the Kingdom gave off made it nearly impossible to see the stars. 

Lance was so preoccupied looking out the windows that he nearly ran right into Coran. 

“Ah, Lance! There you are, did Allura tell you we were cleaning the crystal?” He asked. Lance nodded dejectedly. Coran was the royal advisor, and the unofficial babysitter to Lance and Allura. This had long since given him the right to be informal around the Prince and Princess. As much as Lance didn't want the clean the crystal, he could never stay upset around Coran for long, the man exuded cheerfulness. 

The walk to the crystal was fairly short, since the main bulk of the trip is an elevator ride to the center of the entire Kingdom. There were a lot of workers in the Cavern, monitoring the crystal so that the royal family didn't have to spend all their time down there, but it was still a major royal duty for the crystal to be cleaned. As Lance and Coran entered the Cavern, Lance looked around fondly. The crystal was the only light needed in the Cavern, as veins of golden quintessence ran from the base of the crystal across the floor and up the walls. As many times as Lance had been down here, it always took his breath away. 

“Hey Shay!” Lance called to one of the workers as he and Coran walked towards the center of the Cavern. Shay looked up, her bright hazel eyes glowing in the light of the crystal. 

"Prince Lance! It is wonderful to see you again!” She said. Lance didn't have much time to talk though, as Coran made a beeline to the crystal, picking up buckets full of water on his way. Cleaning the crystal wasn't anything special, it was just water, but it was the principle of the thing. The symbolism. Giving back to the force that kept the Kingdom glowing. Lance really didn't mind it all that much, it’s just that it took the entire work cycle to complete. That, and his arms were always about to fall off when he finished. 

Thankfully, the fact that it took a whole work cycle meant that he didn't have to do anything afterwards, and could immediately go down to Earth. 

Lance practically sprinted back to the Bridge, his legs killing him from exertion. As he reached the door, Allura was just exiting. Their schedules normally met like this, since they both went to the Bridge as soon as the work cycle ended, and they both returned from Earth right at the end of the cycle. They sometimes took breaks to talk, but normally only when something worthy of talking about happened. Allura was leaning back against the door, tying up her white hair. 

“How was your break?” Lance asked, and Allura got a bright grin on her face. 

“It was great. How was cleaning the crystal?”

“Oh, just fantastic.”

“I know how much you love doing it.” Allura said with a smirk, bumping Lance’s shoulder as she walked past him. 

Lance shook his head with a smile and pushed the Bridge door open. The Bridge was a cylindrical room, with one half entirely windows. In the center was a sigil, and as Lance stood on top of it he felt energy rushing through him. He closed his eyes and concentrated, imagining a small alley that he knew was close to his friends’ school. They had said they were on ‘summer vacation’, but they still met up there since it was basically in the center of the city. Quintessence rushed through him, and he heard music. When he opened his eyes, he was in that alley, in normal Earth clothes. The only jewelry he was wearing was a golden bracelet that told him when his break was up and functioned as a communicator. 

He strode out of the alley, clutching his jacket closer as the wind picked up. It was around 8, he was lucky his friends never slept anyway. At first, he had to dodge some tricky questions about why he was never around during the day, but his friends luckily never pushed it very much. Even when his answers admittedly sounded a little sketchy. Approaching the school, he saw a slight glow coming from underneath some bleachers (why were they called that? Lance didn't know). He picked up the pace, jogging to where the glow was and finding his friends huddled around a computer. 

“What’re you working on?”

Pidge and Hunk jumped simultaneously, nearly throwing the computer off of Pidges lap. 

“Oh fuck _off_ Lance, don't scare me like that!” Pidge sighed, putting a hand over their heart. They reached forward and picked the miraculously unscathed computer off the ground. Lance just laughed. Sitting down, he ran a hand through his hair. He still hated having to change how he looked when he came to Earth, but a boy with white hair and glowing golden eyes would probably stand out a little. So he had to settle for brown hair and blue eyes. 

“To answer your question,” Pidge said, tapping away at the computer, “we’re adjusting the equations for our spaceship.”

“Ahh, the one you want to make shaped like a lion?” Lance clarified. Pidge rolled their eyes.

“That's just for aesthetics, it might not even happen.”

“It’d be cool though!” Hunk exclaimed. Pidge saved the document, then shut the computer.

“So, what do you want to do tonight?”

“I was thinking...arcade?” Lance said, thinking back to the previous night when they passed by the brightly lit building. Pidge grinned.

“I bet I can get more tickets than you.” They challenged. Lance had no clue what that meant, but they were so on.

“Guys, let’s try not to get kicked out of anywhere tonight? Please?” Hunk asked, but Pidge just shrugged. 

“It wasn’t my fault that guy couldn’t understand gender-neutral pronouns. In my mind, he deserved that kick.”

Pidge and Lance high-fived, both remembering that revenge-fuelled assault with pride. Hunk just sighed. 

As they walked to the arcade, Lance’s gaze was drawn upwards, to where the moon was high in the sky. He had met the Moon Kingdoms princes when he was younger, but he didn't remember them at all. He often wondered what the Moon Kingdom was like, but he knew that the tentative peace between the two Kingdoms was easily tested, and any visitation between the two were rare. Not that he was lonely in the Sun Kingdom, quite the opposite really, but it would be nice to know the other princes. 

Lance shook those thoughts out of his head, and ran to catch up with Pidge and Hunk. No Kingdom thoughts while he was on his break.


	2. Chapter 2

Keith was fine if he never actually became king. The Moon Kingdom was great and all, it was his home, but if being king meant being like Zarkon than he never really wanted to rule. Shiro felt the same way, neither of them liked being around Zarkon. He wasn’t even their father, he had no children and so he picked two random orphans from the Kingdom and appointed them princes. 

He loved the silver glow of the Moon Kingdom, he really did, but he hated how cold it was. Their crystal, harvested so long ago, was cracked. A predecessor of Zarkon had tried to heal it rather than harvest a new one, but he had tainted it, and now no matter how brightly the Kingdom shone, it was an empty light. So different from the warm glow that emanated from the Sun Kingdom. 

Keith was so jealous of that warmth. The Moon Kingdom may be his home, but the Sun Kingdom _felt_ like a home. Not that he’d been there in a while, the last diplomatic visit was when Keith and Shiro had been crowned princes, when they were both very little. But that glow, that feeling, had stayed with him. The more he grew tired with Zarkon forcing the citizens to work the gears until they were passing out, the more time he spent staring at the sun. It's not like he had any duties to fulfill, Zarkon had the citizens do everything, the royalty did absolutely nothing. Actually, no, Keith did have _a_ duty he had to do. Really he just had to train, since Zarkon was paranoid that the Sun Kingdom would attack even though they’ve shown no hostility whatsoever since the treaty was signed generations ago. Even still, Zarkon made an army, and the two princes were expected to be the best fighters in the Kingdom. Which they were. 

The reasons Keith and Shiro had to hate Zarkon were endless. Not to mention the glossed-over fact that Zarkon had killed his co-ruler, his own brother. There was no proof and nobody could do anything about it anyway, so it was easily brushed under the rug. 

Shiro was all Keith had. Both of them wanted to help the Moon Kingdom, to get rid of Zarkon, but neither of them could do anything. And so they spent endless hours on Earth, just to get away from it all. Zarkon never cared about them enough to police how long they spent on Earth, but they always came back for a full cycle just in case.

* * *

Right now, Keith was in a cafe, watching the people pass by. People-watching was his favorite thing to do, he loved seeing what humans did during the day. He knew what they did when the moon was in the sky, they slept (except for a weird few that Keith had noticed). During the day, though, people were everywhere. Shopping, eating, playing, or just...doing nothing. It was fascinating to Keith, since in the Moon Kingdom there wasn't really any time for the citizens to relax. 

Also, well, it didn't hurt that daytime was when the sun was out. It gave Keith all the time in the universe to watch it travel across the sky. And while the warmth was one thing, Keith did also have...some ulterior motives for loving the sun. 

That damn prince. 

Keith barely remembered him, since they met when he was young, but the boy's face had stuck in Keith's mind for years. His golden eyes had shined just like his Kingdom, and Keith knew his own silver eyes couldn’t compare. 

Shiro liked to tell him he was in love, but Keith didn't believe it. He just...really wanted to see the prince again, was that bad? Ok, _maybe_ Keith was in love. Maybe. 

Keith was drawn out of his daydream by an odd pair passing by. One was short, with haywire brown hair and round glasses, and the other was taller and larger, with a yellow bandana holding back his hair. They were walking with a computer held out in front of them, and they were arguing about something on the screen. Keith grinned to himself, leaning back in his chair. It was odd sights like this that made him love watching people. The pair made their way to a bench and sat down without ever pausing their argument. 

Then the shorter one glanced up, catching Keith’s eye. They immediately got up, and walked briskly over to Keith, who just watched them carefully. 

“You,” They started, leaning on the fence next to Keith, “do you believe in aliens?”

Keith blinked. He didn't know what he was expecting, but it wasn’t that. 

“Uh, what?”

“I said, do you believe in aliens?”

“Why are you asking me?”

“Because I saw you watching us and you look like the type that can help me win this argument. So, do you?”

Well, considering Keith technically was an alien…

“Then I guess, yeah. I do.” Keith said. The...child? (Honestly how old were they, they were tiny) The child punched their fist in the air, turning to shout back to their friend.

“Suck it Hunk! Aliens _are_ real!”

“One more person doesn't mean you’re right, Pidge!” The other person called back. Pidge (?) rolled their eyes. 

“Anyway, hey, I’m Pidge.” They said, sticking their hand out to Keith. “Do you wanna hang with us? I could use your help in convincing Hunk he’s wrong about aliens.”

Keith shook their hand hesitantly. It’s not like he had anything better to do. 

“Sure, I’m Keith.”

Pidge waited somewhat patiently for Keith to exit the patio of the cafe, before practically dragging him over to Hunk. 

“Hunk! This is Keith. He’s my new friend and he believes in aliens.” 

Hunk raised an eyebrow but shook Keith’s hand nonetheless. Keith was a little confused, he had literally never made a friend before in his life. Did it always move this fast?

“Hey Keith. Sorry you were assaulted by Pidge, they don't seem to have any sense of personal space.”

“You’ve known that since you met me, Hunk. At least I’m better than Lance.”

“Okay true.” Hunk replied, laughing. Keith couldn't help but smile, it was nice to talk to someone other than Shiro. Hunk closed the laptop and stood up.

“So, what do you want to do?”

* * *

Keith spent the rest of the day hanging out with Pidge and Hunk, and he honestly had never had that much fun on Earth before. They were weird, but endearing. But then the sun started to set, and Keith had to go.

“Aw, are you sure you can’t stay? We always meet up with Lance at night, I’m sure you guys would get along!” Pidge complained, pouting. 

“I really can’t, but I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” Keith said. Pidge pouted for a little longer before brightening.

“Okay. We’ll meet you at the cafe again!”

“Gotcha.”

Keith didn’t want to go back, he had really enjoyed today. But who knows what would happen if he stayed. Zarkon was unpredictable, he may suspect Keith’s loyalties were wavering. After all, Zarkon _hated_ the Sun Kingdom. He felt that they purposefully kept the Moon Kingdom dulled, even though they had nothing to do with the corruption of the Moon crystal. Zarkon didn’t care about that though. He wanted their crystal. Keith had once suggested just harvesting a new crystal from the far off planets that grew them, but that wasn’t what mattered to Zarkon. All he cared about was vengeance, repayment for something that Keith knew wasn’t the fault of the Sun Kingdom. 

As Keith was walking to the secluded alley he always used to travel, he saw Shiro coming from the other direction. It was always weird seeing Shiro on Earth, since he didn't have his scar from that training mishap or the white patch in his hair. He kept his prosthetic arm, but it’s a lot less advanced than the one he has in the Kingdom. That was a touchy subject, since Keith liked to suspect it was an attempt by Zarkon to keep them in line. Shiro didn't think so, but the fact that a training session ended in the loss of an arm made Keith on edge. 

Then again, Keith looked different on Earth too, his hair didn't have the ethereal silver glow to it, and his eyes were a blueish-grey rather than their normal silver. He didn’t hate it, since the silver eyes _were_ a tie to Zarkon that he could do without, but he also did like them.

“Shiro! How was your day?” He called, jogging to catch up. Shiro grinned at him.

“Good! I noticed you left the cafe, what happened?”

“I, uh,” Keith smiled lightly, “I made some friends.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. They’re really nice.”

Shiro looked at Keith proudly as they walked into the alley. Keith flushed and punched Shiro lightly on the arm. 

“So, how’s your girlfriend?” Keith asked, a shit-eating grin appearing on his face. Shiro’s face turned red.

“She’s not my girlfriend!”

“ _Sure_ , she's just a girl you happen to hang out with whenever we come to Earth.”

“Oh, shut it, at least I don't watch her in my free time, _Keith_.”

“I don't watch anyone!”

The bickering continued as they reappeared on the Bridge of the Moon Kingdom. Normally, Keith would be headed to either his room or the training deck, where he would spend the rest of the cycle, but this time...he had other plans. He just told Shiro he didn't watch anyone, and he was about to prove that wrong. Today had been so much fun, he heard all about Hunk and Pidge’s plan to build a spaceship and travel through space (Pidge wanted to find aliens, but Hunk didn't believe in them). Pidge showed him their prototypes and diagrams, and then their giant conspiracy board ‘proving’ the existence of extraterrestrial life. Keith wanted to laugh at the fact that he could prove it a lot better, but he had to admit they put a lot of work into it.

Climbing the cold silver staircase, Keith passed several palace workers, all of whom walked by him with their heads down. He had learned years ago that they were too afraid of Zarkon to actually talk to any royalty. They thought Keith and Shiro were already the same as him. The thought made Keith’s blood boil. Reaching the top of the tower, Keith pushed open the large door and made his way to the ornate telescope by the window. He sat down in the seat by it and zoomed it in to the town he always visited. It took some time to find Hunk and Pidge, but soon he saw them walking from what he knew was the school with another person. Keith looked a little closer, and he thought his heart stopped for a second, because that other person (who must be the Lance they were talking about) was _really_ fucking pretty. Not quite on par with the person he had been obsessed with for years, but still. His eyes were what caught Keith's attention, they were as blue as the water that covered the majority of Earth, and contrasted with his darker skin. 

Keith watched the three of them laugh and joke with each other, and wished he could be down with them. The next night, he promised, he would stay on Earth. He had to, he hated being cooped up on the Moon Kingdom with nobody but Shiro caring about him. Just let Zarkon try to stop him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here the second chapter! i promise i dont hate the moon, shes my girlfriend and i love her. 
> 
> i should get the next one out soon, but its getting into AP testing time so i dont know how much time i'll have to write. I'll try to make it soon though!
> 
> Find me on tumblr: @rorzeebubbles  
> Or, my writing blog where ill post fic updates: @rorzee-ebubbles


	3. Chapter 3

Lance was about ready to scream.  He sneaks away from his babysitting duty, having finally gotten all three younger siblings to take a nap, takes a peek at Hunk and Pidge, and what does he see?  Them hanging out and having a grand old time with The Boy!  On one hand, this was great for Lance, maybe he’d stay for their nighttime hangouts, but on the other hand, how was he supposed to ask them about him without being really weird?

 

_ Oh, yeah, so I was watching you earlier today even though I’m somewhere else during the day and can’t tell you where, and I saw you hanging out with a hot guy I also watch.  What can you tell me about him? _

 

Yeah that sounds great. Hunk and Pidge would definitely understand that question. Pidge would probably still answer it, but it would be way too awkward.  Lance dragged his hands down his face, groaning.  What if he never joined them at night?  What if he did and he hated Lance?  It’s not like he would know Lance was royalty, what if he came off as an asshole?

 

“Lance?” A small voice came from the doorway.  Lance turned to see his little brother rubbing his eyes sleepily.

 

“Danny,” Lance chided, “you know not to leave the room when you’re supposed to be asleep.  C’mon, let’s head back.”

 

He began to steer the boy back out the door, sending a regretful glance back at the telescope.  He hoped he got to see The Boy soon.  Or at least learn his name, calling him The Boy was getting annoying.  

 

After he got Danny back in bed with the others, there was a quiet knock on the door.  It opened, and Lance’s mother entered the room, watching the sleeping children lovingly before turning to Lance.  

 

“How are they?” She asked.  Lance smiled.

 

“They’re good.”  He said.  “Danny got up and went wandering, but I got him back asleep.”

 

“Thank you for that.  We can’t have him getting himself hurt.  I wonder who he reminds me of, always getting himself lost in the castle?”  Queen Fala raised her eyebrows mischievously at Lance.  He rolled his eyes, grinning.

 

“I know, I was a troublemaker.  You love me though.”

 

She ruffled his hair.

 

“Yes I do.  Say, it’s almost time for your break anyway, I’ll watch them for the rest of mine.  Go see your friends.”

 

“Really?” Lance asked.  “But it’s still Allura’s break.”

 

“I know, but you two have been working hard lately and it’s almost your eighteenth birthday.  Soon you’ll be working even harder, preparing to be King.  You should have as much break now as you can get.”

 

“Thanks mom.” Lance said, hugging her and walking out of the room.  He...definitely didn't sprint up to the Bridge, no way.  By the time he reached the door he was out of breath, but he didn't stop as he walked in and activated the Bridge, traveling down to Earth while still catching his breath.  

 

As he stepped out of the alleyway, he cursed himself for not checking where everyone was before coming down.  He had no clue where to even find Hunk and Pidge at this time.  So he settled for wandering through the town, seeing it in a whole new light as the sun was just starting to set.  People were everywhere, just leaving dinner and going home, and the walkways were packed.  Suddenly, a familiar flash of white appeared in the corner of his eye.  He turned, grinning as he saw Allura giggling next to a man that seemed her age, with dark hair and an arm that looked like it was made out of metal.  Allura always kept her white hair on Earth, simply telling everyone she dyed it, and it made her quite easy for Lance to spot.  He walked up behind the man, waiting until Allura caught his eye, and when she did her own blue eyes widened.

 

“Excuse me for a second.” He heard her say, before she hurried through the crowds over to him. 

 

“Hey Allura, fancy meeting you here.” Lance said, the grin still on his face.  

 

“What are you doing here?  Did I stay too long?” She asked, and Lance shook his head.

 

“No, don’t worry.  Mom gave me the rest of my cycle off.”  He paused.  “So...who is that?”

 

Immediately Allura sighed, rolling her eyes.

 

“His name is Shiro, and it’s not like that, Lance.” She said, and Lance leaned forward more.

 

“Oh really?”

 

“You’re not the only one who can have friends on Earth!  Shiro is a  _ friend _ .” She protested, punching Lance in the arm.  Lance’s grin widened.

 

“Sure he is.  Well, I guess I’ll leave you to your date…” 

 

“It’s not a date!” Allura groaned, shoving Lance away and turning back to Shiro.  He laughed, walking away in the other direction.  Perk number one to being down here in the day: teasing Allura.  That took priority over anything that had happened so far.  

 

Lance practically skipped down the road, his hands in the pockets of the ratty hoodie he always had on Earth. He was so used to fancy shit that it was nice to just have something that was well worn. He was a little hot, for once, since the setting sun still sent heat beating down his back.  He loved it.  He had felt his Kingdom’s warmth when he was on it, but never on Earth.  He leaned against a fence and closed his eyes for a few minutes, listening and feeling and relishing in the fact that that was his home up there, and all these people rushing past him that relied on it day after day had no clue.  

 

When he started moving again, he peeked over the head of every person he passed trying to see if he could find Hunk and Pidge, but he had no luck.  Maybe they were already at the school?  His eyes skimmed over groups of girls with shopping bags draped over their arms, tanned dudes in only swim trunks, a group of high schoolers dabbing as they walked down the road (that was the first meme Pidge taught Lance), small children on their parents shoulders, two guys ducking suspisciously into an alleyway…

 

Wait.  

 

One of those guys was Shiro….and the other…

 

It was The Boy!  Holy  _ shit _ he was right there! And with Shiro? Why?  Lance darted over to the alley to see where they went, but by the time he made his way through the crowd, the alley was empty.  He stopped at the entrance.  Where could they have gone?  The alley was a dead end, they couldn't have gotten out...unless..

 

Unless Lance just imagined the whole thing.   _ Fuck _ .  Had he actually thought he would just run into The Boy randomly?  Of course he wouldn’t.  He sighed and walked away from the alley, making his way back through the crowd towards the school.  Hunk and Pidge could cheer him up.

 

They didn’t have their computer this time, they were just sitting under the bleachers talking.  They noticed him as he came over and waved to him, Pidge standing up and jogging towards him.  

 

“Lance!  Guess what happened today?” They called.  Lance wanted to say he had a pretty good idea, but this could be the opening he was looking for. 

 

“What?”

 

“We got another vote for the ‘aliens exist’ club!”

 

So The Boy believes in aliens, huh?  No wonder he was hanging out with Pidge then.

 

“Really?  Who?”  He asked, trying and probably failing to sound nonchalant.  He would be lying if he said his heart didn’t speed up and the thought of finally being able to not call him The Boy.  Pidge reached him, Hunk trailing behind, and without missing a beat they dropped into a graceful slide tackle and sent Lance sprawling to the ground.  

 

“Wha- Pidge what the hell?” He said, laughing as he pushed himself off the dirt. He should have expected it, honestly, Pidge is always doing shit like that.  Pidge hopped up off the ground and held out a hand to Lance, grinning.  As he took it they kept talking, finally fulfilling Lance’s wish.

 

“His name is Keith!  He even helped me with my conspiracy board, I really think you’d like him.”

 

_ Oh, you have no idea,  _ Lance thought.  So, Keith?  Lance liked that name.  

 

“Unfortunately he couldn’t stay tonight so you can’t meet him, but maybe tomorrow.” Hunk said, walking up behind Pidge.  Lance put his hands in his pockets, humming thoughtfully.

 

“Yeah, maybe tomorrow.”  He mused.  Suddenly a thought came into his mind. “Hey, Pidge, you said he helped you with your conspiracy board?  Can I see?”

 

“I thought you’d never ask, my dude.” They replied, immediately grabbing Lance’s hand and turning away.  As they walked, they chattered on and on about the things Keith had added, the creatures that even Pidge had never heard of.  See, one of Lance’s favorite things was just hearing Pidge and Hunk argue about aliens and other supernatural creatures.  Hunk was a hard skeptic, probably because he thought that if aliens were real then they would try to invade Earth and he didn’t want that, and Pidge was interested in being the first human to meet an alien.  Little did they know….they might not have been the first but they were pretty damn close.  Anyway, the debates could get a little intense, with photographic evidence, recordings, and eventually Pidge created their conspiracy board to keep track of all the things they’ve brought up to Hunk.’  

 

When they got to Pidge’s house, they went straight upstairs and nearly ran into Pidge’s older brother.

 

“Sorry Matt, gotta show Lance the new shit on the board.” They said, maneuvering around Matt.  He scoffed and shook his head.

 

“Kids these days, you better watch your fucking language.”  

 

Once in Pidge’s room, Lance marveled at how much bigger the board had gotten since he’d last seen it.  It was about twice as big of a cork board, with cliche red string connecting dozens of pictures.  Everything was on top of a giant world map, and there were even some photos of the planets in the solar system on there too.  Lance dropped into a beanbag chair in the corner, as Pidge picked up a yardstick and began using it to point at different pictures. Whatever they were saying made no sense to Lance, but he listened anyway.  

 

It took about an hour for Pidge to get through most of the new additions, with frequent interruptions from both Hunk and Lance.  They didn’t even finish, but Matt came in and told them to keep the noise down so they decided to just play stereotypical sleepover games.  Obviously Lance had heard of exactly zero of these games, but he’s good at picking things up.  

 

“Okay, uhhh…...never have I ever…..had alcohol.” Hunk said, shrugging.  Both Lance and Pidge put a finger down, and Hunk sighed.  

 

“In my defense, it was champagne at a party.” Lance said.  Technically it wasn’t alcohol either, not in the Earth sense, but it was basically the same thing.  Hunk and Lance then turned to Pidge.  

 

“Matt left a bottle on the counter one night and I was curious.  Sue me.”  They said.  “Lance, your turn.”

 

He thought for a minute.  There was a lot of things he knew they had never done, but they would also have no clue what he was talking about.  He decided to just go with one of the things he had heard the two of them talking about over their hangouts.  

 

“Never have I ever had a funnel cake.”

 

Immediately Hunk and Pidge gasped dramatically, hands flying to their mouths.  

 

“That’s fucking sacrilege and I refuse to tolerate it.” Pidge said, shaking their head slowly.  Hunk moved a hand to his heart.

 

“I’ll fix this, Pidge, I promise.  Tomorrow, I’m making him a funnel cake.”

 

“Hunk, you’re a blessing in this bleak mortal existence.” 

 

“Thanks buddy.”

 

Lance was a little confused.  What was a funnel cake and why was it so important?  Was he missing something here?  After a little more mourning and some sympathetic pats to Lance’s knee, the other two were ready to move on with the game.  

 

“Never have I ever shot a gun.” Pidge said, somewhat sadly.  Lance was tempted to not put his finger down, but in the end he just decided to go for it.  Hunk was shaking his head, while Pidge’s eyes lit up.

 

“Really?” They asked.  “I’ve wanted to shoot one for a while now.  Matt said he’d teach me but apparently he needs to wait ‘till I’m at least 16.”

 

“I mean, that sucks Pidge, but none of us should be shooting guns?  We are teenagers?” Hunk said, but Pidge just shrugged.  Luckily though, none of them thought to ask Lance  _ when _ he had shot a gun, which was good because he had not thought of a story for that.  In reality, Coran had taken him to the armory to pick out a weapon for the possible future in which the Sun Kingdom gets entangled in another cosmic war.  Allura had already gotten hers, a staff, and it was Lance’s turn.  He just really fucking took to the guns.

“Never have I ever dated anyone.” Hunk continued, and neither Lance nor Pidge put down a finger.

 

“Really?  Even with the multitudes of people I’ve caught you flirting with?” Hunk asked Lance, who shrugged.  There wasn’t much opportunity to date back in the Kingdom.  Well, actually there probably was but he spent all his free time on Earth so….yeah.  

 

They continued playing that game for a while, until Pidge suggested that they switch to truth or dare.  The glint in their eye was a bit unnerving, but Lance was intrigued by the game.  

 

“I’ll go first!” He volunteered.  “Pidge, truth or dare?”  That part of the game was simple enough for him to get. 

 

“Dare, because I ain’t a chicken.” They said.  Lance grinned.

 

“Hmmmm, I dare you to go tell Matt you’ve drank some of his alcohol.”

 

Pidge shrugged and left the room.  They came back a few minutes later.

 

“He fistbumped me, told me not to tell mom and dad, and then hit me lightly upside the head and scolded me.”

 

“Yeah that’s about what I expected.” Hunk said.  “It’s your turn now.”

 

“Oh right.”  They paused, before turning to Lance.  “Truth or dare.”

 

Lance would totally have done a dare, but he didn’t know how time-consuming it would be and he really should head back soon.  Also he didn’t want to stand up.

 

“Truth.”

 

Pidge leaned a little closer.

 

“What is it you  _ really  _ do all day?  I’ve never seen you around before 7, and you’ve never actually answered us as to where you go.”

 

A shiver went down Lance’s spine.  He had considered telling them the truth, but they would never believe him, and showing an Earthling the Kingdom violated a bunch of rules.  Actually probably only one, but it was an important one.  How many different stories has he told Hunk and Pidge?  He swallowed nervously.

 

“Uhh, I go home?” He answered, shrugging.  Pidge frowned.

 

“Well sure, but what has you so busy you can never come see us?”

 

“I have work?”

 

“Is that a question?”

 

“No, I have work.  That’s where I am all day.”  Lance said with more conviction.  

 

“Where do you work?” 

 

Lance groaned, decided to play the oldest trick in the book (according to the Earth movies he’s watched).

 

“What do you want me to say?  That I’m the magical prince of a kingdom out in space and I have to go back every day to do important royal duties?”

 

Hunk laughed.

 

“Ok, true.  I think Pidge and I just wanted to make sure you weren’t like, in the mafia or something.  You aren’t in the mafia, right?”

 

“No Hunk, I am not in the mafia.”  Lance said, and Hunk smiled.  

 

“Yeah, uh, sorry.  That got a little aggressive on my end.” Pidge said, crossing their arms.

 

“Eh, it’s fine.  I was being a little suspicious.”  Lance ruffled Pidge’s hair.  As he did so, the bracelet on his wrist began subtly vibrating.  He frowned.  

 

“Actually, I should probably head for home now, try and actually get some sleep.” He said, and Hunk and Pidge started chorusing for him to stay.  He really wanted to, but he had to go back.  As he stood up, he took one last look around Pidge’s room, since they rarely end up there.  He looked again at the conspiracy board, and the many new creatures on it.  

 

As he turned to go, one caught his eye.  A small post-it note, with a rough worm-like creature drawn on it.  The name of the creature was written around it.  

 

How did humans know about Weblums?  Lance thought that myth only existed in the cosmos, as the giant space worms tended to stay away from any planetoid.  One hadn’t been sighted around the Sun Kingdom for centuries, since even before the war.  

 

How had Keith known about them?

 

The bracelet vibrated again, slightly more aggressive this time, and he tore his eyes away from the crudely drawn picture.  

 

Humans had vibrant imaginations, he wouldn’t be surprised if some had managed to come up with the idea of Weblums.  Keith probably just knew where to look to find his information.  There was no other explanation.  

 

As the familiar quintessence brought him back to the Bridge, he walked through the golden hallways slightly dazed.  Many castle workers stopped to ask if he was okay, and he assured all of them he was fine.  This whole Weblum business was just throwing him off guard.  He was being stupid, there was no reason for him to be so caught up in this, but he found himself at his destination anyways.  Sure, he wasn’t on break anymore, but he didn’t need to clean the crystal today, and so he could spare a few minutes.  

 

Wandering through the Kingdom library, he pulled out every source on Weblums.  They said nothing about if humans should know about them, and Lance just sighed.  What was he expecting to find?  Keith was a human, there was no other way he could have known about Weblums.  He probably just stumbled on a site that had them listed and found them interesting.  Lance knew why he was so invested in this, though.  Because it was  _ Keith. _  The mysterious boy that Lance had been distantly in love with was now starting to get closer, and Lance’s brain was trying to comprehend it and fucking up horribly.  

 

He put all the scrolls and books back, and is about to leave the library when the doors open in front of him.  He stopped suddenly before he ran straight into Allura.  

 

“Oh, Lance!  Good you’re still here, I thought you would have gone to the throne room right now.”  She said.

 

“I was just on my way, but why are you here?  Figured you’d be down on Earth.”

 

Allura shrugged. 

 

“We haven’t just...talked in a while.  I heard from Mom that the only thing you need to do this cycle is take a turn on the gears for a bit, so you definitely can spare some time to talk to your sister.”

 

“Sure, yeah, let’s talk.” Lance said, walking back into the library.  “What do you want to talk about?”

 

“Everything.  I rarely hear about your Earth friends, or that boy you told me about.  You’re almost 18 too, which means we’ll be seriously training for being rulers soon.  How do you feel about that?”

 

“I’m....surprisingly ready, actually.  I mean, we’ll be ruling together, and as long as you’re there with me I think we’ll be fine.” Lance said, smiling softly at Allura.  

 

“Yeah.  Me too.  Hopefully we won’t need to take the throne for a while though.”

 

They sat in silence for a minute.

 

“So how did you meet Shiro?” He asked.  Allura smiled.

 

“He was one of the many people that came up to me asking about my hair.  The only difference was once I told him I dyed it, we just kept talking.  He’s a good friend.  How are Hunk and Pidge?”

 

“They’re good, still working on that spaceship project.  Still arguing over aliens, which is hilarious to watch.  They started hanging out with that boy, actually.”

 

Allura grinned slyly and leaned closer to Lance. 

 

“Really?  Have you met him then?”

 

Lance flushed. 

 

“Well, no, but I might soon. I learned his name is Keith.”

 

Allura started wiggling her eyebrows. Lance laughed and pushed her away. 

 

“I regret telling you anything now.” He said, and she punched him lightly on the arm.  

 

They chatted for a little while longer, about anything that came to mind, until Lance remembered that he wasn’t actually on break.

 

“I should probably head down to the gears now, the cycle’s already almost half over.” He sighed.  He loved talking with Allura, and he didn’t want to leave.  She shrugged.

 

“I’ll come with you.  I planned on not going to Earth this whole cycle so there isn’t much else to do but hang out with you.”

 

“You could go talk to citizens.”

 

“I do that when I’m not on break.  If I didn’t know better it sounds like you’re trying to get rid of me!”

 

Lance laughed, standing up and leaving the library, Allura behind him.  

 

It turns out that having your older sister next to you when you’re trying to work is both a great thing and a horrible thing.  On one hand, Lance was more motivated to turn the gears than ever, on the other hand he was very easily distracted by her talking to him.  The cycle simultaneously seemed to take half as long and also last forever.  Because of this, Lance barely noticed when the cycle ended, it took Allura grabbing his hand for him to realize.  She started dragging him through the hallways and up the spiral staircases, her hair streaming behind her into Lance’s face.  

 

It took him a second to register what room they ended up in, but then his eyes landed on the telescope.  Allura was leaning on it, looking expectantly at Lance.  

 

“Can you show me this boy?  Keith?  Then I promise I’ll let you go see him without another word.”  She batted her eyelashes.  

 

“I highly doubt the ‘without another word’ part, but...sure.  I can’t promise I’ll be able to find him though, sometimes it’s like he’s not there.”  He walked up to the telescope, and found Hunk and Pidge with no problem, hoping that maybe Keith had stayed to hang out that night.  His heart seemed to stop as he saw that yes, he had, and they were all under the bleachers waiting for Lance.  He stepped back, motioning for Allura to look, and as she did he heard her hum thoughtfully.  She turned around, watching Lance with a shit-eating grin.  

 

“He  _ is  _ pretty cute, not my type but I see why you like him.  It seems like they’re waiting for you.”

 

Lance shrugged and nodded.

 

“Yeah, we meet under those bleachers every night.”

 

“Well then I think it’s time you went and got your boy, huh?” Allura said, waving him out the door.  He flushed again and walked outside the tower room.  

 

“Knock ‘em dead, little brother!” She called from the window.  

 

His only response was the slamming of the door behind him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on Tumblr: @rorzeebubbles
> 
> Or follow my writing blog for fic updates: @rorzee-ebubbles
> 
> Thanks for reading! I hope you guys liked this chapter!


	4. Hiatus?  I guess??

First off:   _I am not abandoning this_.  I am absolutely gonna update this fic once i actually have time to finish the chapter, i love this story you guys, only its my senior year of high school and so im Swamped.  college apps, AP's, teachers giving homework at the beginning of school, its leaving me barely any time to write for myself and that means that its gonna be a little while longer before this fic is updated.  Hopefully when winter break hits i can get back into this, because i have Plans and i really want to get them on paper for you guys.  (or...screen, but you know what I mean)

Sorry again, i really wish i had time to write regularly.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhhhh i hate having to post this because it feels like im giving up but i promise im not i just need to focus on school for a while. i hope you guys are still here when i come back, your comments and just reading it in general make my day and i dont want to let you down. ill delete this chapter once i post the Actual next chapter, but until then i am Officially On Hiatus. Thanks for reading and i hope im able to delete this update soon!


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